The 45th Infantry Regiment was organized by Colonel T.
Hardeman, Jr. during the winter of 1861-1862. Many of the men were recruited
in the counties of Greene, Dooly, Taylor, Gray, Berrien. Ordered to Virginia
the regiment was placed under the command of Generals J.R. Anderson and E.L.
Thomas. It served in the arduous campaigns of the Army of Northern Virginia
from the Seven Days' Battles to Cold Harbor, then was involved in the
battles and hardships of the trenches of Petersburg and the Appomattox
operations. This unit lost 7 killed and 35 wounded at Second Manassas and 5
killed and 43 wounded at Fredericksburg. At Chancellorsville it lost ten
percent of the 350 engaged, and at Gettysburg about ten percent of the 331
were disabled. The 45th surrendered with 8 officers and 85 men. Its field
commanders were Colonels Thomas Hardeman, Jr. and T.J. Simmons; Lieutenant
Colonels James W. Carter, C.A. Conn, Washington L. Grice, and William S.
Wallace; and Majors Aurelius W. Gibson and M.R. Rogers.